I've recently seen some events advertised for specific groups or for people who fit a certain description, and it got me wondering, would it be alright, from a Jewish perspective (Halachic, Hashkafic, whatever), for someone to attend under false pretenses?

I can't think of too many instances in which this would really be practical, but the one that made me think of this is an event sponsored by the OU for people interested in moving to a new community. Now, I'm not interested in moving, and there is nothing available in my current community. But suppose I lived in one of the communities that are being promoted and I just wanted a new job, would it be alright to attend under the pretense that I was looking to relocate? Presumably these communities spent some of their resources to participate in this event, and they are looking to grow their communities, and to that end they send representatives of the community, as well as job recruiters and representatives of local companies, to these events to try to match up prospective candidates with everything they need, ranging from housing to loans to education to jobs. Would attending this event in order to find a new job (or house!) in the community being showcased be wasting/stealing the community's resources? Would it be an additional problem if, by succeeding, I prevented a new prospective community member from landing that job or buying that house and thereby prevented the community from growing (not to mention prevented that person from what would amount to a life-improvement)?

Another example I can think of is singles events. Let's say I was a Shadchan, and I attended a singles event in the hopes of getting some new clients, or at least in the hopes of meeting new candidates for my current clients. Would that be allowed? In this case, at least, the goal is similar, only I'd be potentially profiting off of the event.

Those are merely the two instances that come to mind. But in general, would (or could) this be a (potential) problem?

גניבת דעת? Also, in the case of the OU event, do you really think that you'd get kicked to the curb for already living in a community? You'd think that they have a more of a responsibility to you than to new people they want to recruit.
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FredMar 13 '13 at 22:20

@Fred, but the community is looking to grow and is spending its resources to accomplish that goal.
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Seth JMar 13 '13 at 22:22

Note also that to some extent having more people around makes the event seem more successful (both for the OU to promote future ones and for attendants to think lots of people want to move to that community so it must be a good one (to use that example).)
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Double AA♦Mar 13 '13 at 22:32

@Fred, ok, so let's say the guy just wants a new job, not that he's unemployed.
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Seth JMar 13 '13 at 22:46